New location proposed for Sycamore fire station build

SYCAMORE – A new location has been proposed for a Sycamore fire station, which still requires city approval before it’s built.

A permit required for a proposed new Sycamore fire station was recommended for approval Monday by the city’s planning and zoning commission, despite deviations from previous concept plans that weren’t mentioned during the meeting.

A new fire station would replace Sycamore Fire Station No. 1, located at 535 DeKalb Ave., which was built more than 70 years ago. For decades, it was the home of the Sycamore Police Department and Sycamore city government, but the Sycamore Fire Department is the only group currently using the building.

City Manager Michael Hall did not note the distinction Monday when explaining the agenda item to the commission.

When asked why the locations of the proposed fire station and training area were switched, Hall wrote that previously presented plans were only concepts.

“The original site plans were not refined several months ago,” Hall wrote. “These site plans are more updated, and we continue to make adjustments to the site plans that best meet the needs of the project.”

In recent years, it has been operated with a smorgasbord of issues, including no building-wide air conditioning; engine bay doors that are too short for modern, standard fire trucks; and a boiler that Sycamore Fire Chief Bart Gilmore has said is about as old as the building.

For those reasons, few have questioned city officials’ desire to construct a new fire station on land donated to the city by Ideal for the idea. In August, some city residents living near the proposed site said they’d rather see it built elsewhere, however.

Previous concept plans showed a new fire station being built at the corner of Borden Avenue and South Prairie Drive, across the road from single-family homes. The plans put before the city’s planning and zoning commission this week show a new spot for the station, to the south side of the donated land.

Concept plans that were presented to the Sycamore City Council in the spring showed parking lot access to the fire station along Borden Avenue, and space south of the building would be reserved for what officials have said they hope to turn into a firefighter training area dubbed “safety town.”

The new plans would place the training area north of the fire station, directly at the corner of Borden Avenue and South Prairie Drive.

He said multiple factors – including utility and infrastructure planning, building access and circulation, drainage and stormwater management, and building – that influenced the city’s decision to propose the more southerly location for the fire station.

Hall said a training tower, which would be a part of the fire station and separate from the proposed safety town, also was part of the reasoning.

“The training tower on the south side will have more space and [be] hidden from view,” Hall wrote.

Aside from the land-use permit, several steps remain before the construction of a new Sycamore Fire Station No. 1 can commence, including city approval of a final plan for the building and the funding mechanisms affording its construction.

The special-use permit was the only aspect of the project that was before the planning and zoning commission on Monday, however.

“This is for a special-use permit to put a fire station at the location that you mentioned,” Hall said. “The city has to request a special-use permit to put a fire station there. So, that’s really what this is simply about, is our ordinance requires this. We got this donated land from Ideal, and so we are looking for approval for special use to build this fire station.”